Now Commenting On:

Kohn aims to seize another Majors opportunity

Righty reliever earns promotion after being sent to Triple-A in early June

Email

Print

Kohn's scoreless relief 0:30

7/21/13: Michael Kohn enters in relief in the eighth, striking out two batters and putting up a scoreless inning for the Angels

By Alden Gonzalez
/
MLB.com |

KANSAS CITY -- Michael Kohn's leash isn't all that long, and the Angels' reliever learned that the hard way on June 3, when he was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake after a six-game stretch that saw him give up six runs in 4 1/3 innings.

In 19 appearances before that, Kohn had a 0.93 ERA.

"It was a shock," Kohn said of getting optioned more than three weeks ago, "but it was out of my control.

"I just went through a stretch where I had two bad outings and my timing was off a little bit. It's like a hitter going 0-for-8 in two games, then coming back and going 3-for-3."

Kohn's 3-for-3 came in the Pacific Coast League, where he notched nine scoreless outings to ultimately earn a callup late Friday night -- a move that sent first baseman and outfielder Efren Navarro back to Triple-A and returned the Angels to a traditional seven-man bullpen.

But Kohn is still walking hitters.

The Angels sent him down mainly because of the 7.6 walks he issued per nine innings during his two-month stint in the big leagues, a habit that typically catches up to relievers in the form of runs allowed. In Triple-A, Kohn still walked six batters in 9 1/3 innings, giving him a relatively high rate of 5.8.